MONTREAL - Canada's figure skating champ is a Montrealer who has serious plans for the next winter Olympics. Amelie Lacoste, 23, wants to skate for Russian gold at Sochi in 2014.
Delson-born Amelie's passion for the ice is obvious.
"Since I was five years old this has been a passion for me," said Amelie. "I've always wanted to skate every single day and it was just a pleasure to go on the ice, jump around and have fun."
Clinching the Canadian championship on January, Amelie had to beat Cynthia Phaneuf from Contrecoeur.
"Right away we saw that she had something more about her, compared to all the other children on the ice," said Cecile Lacoste, Amelie's mother.
Having spent years travelling from arena to arena in Montreal, Amelie's passion paid off when she clinched a berth at the world figure skating championships on Feb. 11.
"She used to tell me, ‘Mom I'm going to skate all summer,' I told her that their wasn't skating in the summer, but she told me, ‘Yes mom, there is ice indoors,'" said Cecile.
Now the best in Canada, Amelie has had to start training even harder.
"I try to eat very well, although I have a sweet tooth, which doesn't help some times," said Amelie.
Looking forward to the Sochi games, Amelie's coach said the future Olympian doesn't need much of a push to excel.
"She doesn't really need to be pushed, she pushes herself so much every day, that was a part of her success," said Nathalie Martin, Amelie's coach.
"My keywords are: don't forget to breathe and enjoy it, take one element at the time and go for it," said Amelie.
